Chapter 8
Throughout the time of waiting for their arrival on this "Dagobah", Luke resumed his training with the lightsaber. He still was stunned every once and a while, but he was starting to get the hang of it more and more. Old Ben was teaching him to be just another wizard. He would like to think that he would never be as old as Ben with all the wrinkles and bad joints and things, but if he did, what would he be like?
Chasing that thought away, he focused on the present as his thigh rippled again with slight pain. He was distracted easily. Too easily. According to the Jedi. Dealing with the smuggler's constant chatter didn't helped in the slightest.
The old man just watched with his eyes flickering. Luke couldn't help but wonder what was going through his thoughts, but all he'd done was indicate slightly for him to continue his training. Given the slight quirking of his lips, he found amusement to Luke's humiliation.
He did his best to ignore Solo. He really did and just followed Old Ben's expectations! All of the stun shots came at him again, and he blocked each of them, using the helmet in blinding his vision. The more he'd been wearing that thing, the easier it gotten!
True to his previous word, he could feel the energy bolts before they connected.
With the amount of energy that fueled through him, he wasn't prepared for that. While working on the moisture farm required a lot of energy through him, this was just greater than ever. He didn't get into much fights on Tatooine, and overall, the planet was boring...
Well, at least Owen and Beru were still alive at the time. He couldn't understand why the Empire would go that low and kill them, and the thought just sent anger ripping through him.
At that moment, one of the bolts caught him in the back and caused him to groan, snapping him out of his thoughts. He placed his hand onto his back, wondering if it was reddening.
At last, he couldn't continue ignoring the look from the old Jedi anymore and deactivated his lightsaber, groaning slightly as he moved over to the old man.
"I know. I know. I let my anger get in the way again."
"I haven't said anything," Ben pointed out, all amusement in his tone.
"Well, you're thinking it!" He complained.
Ben sighed and grumbled something under his breath along the lines of, "Just like your father."
Hoping to hear a happier story, the young man asked. "About that, what was my father like? What were the battles you guys were in in the Clone Wars like?"
"Yeah, please tell us," Han said in an extremely bored tone, hand on his chin as he rolled his eyes. To him, the Force nor the Jedi were real. Just nonsense.
Much to his disappointment, Ben replied with a sad look. "A good question for another time, young one, but as it is now, I'm going to retire. My old age catches up."
Why wouldn't the old man just tell him about the Clone Wars? He'd really wanted to know what his father was like, and while he understood it was a tragic ending when that monster - Vader - killed the man, he should know! After all, he would be fighting to avenge his death some day and make that wanton destructor pay for all the lives that came along the way!
"You should be drinking some hot calf while thinking about the "good old days", old man," the smuggler quipped.
Ben snorted but didn't rise to the bait. The old Jedi walked to one of the crew quarters no doubt to get some sleep.
"Why won't he just tell me?"
Han grumbled. "Like I said about the Jedi, kid. Nonsense."
"Well, we'll show you," Luke replied fiercely, as he moved next to the smuggler's seat and sat down. "Thanks for helping out like that." He wasn't above that simple gesture because he knew to always be polite. That was what Owen and Beru would have wanted. "I know this must be irritating."
"Look, I ain't in this for you nor that odd old man, kid. I expect to be well-paid. I'm in it for the money."
The feeling of sentimentality faded.
"You don't need to worry about your reward. If money is all that you care about, then I'm pretty sure Old Ben will find a way to compensate you." Luke responded, growing tired of the smuggler's taunts and inconsiderate attitude around him.
He stood up and began leaving the room, hearing the man speaking to his Wookie comrade, "Wow, the kid has some spunk after all."
The secret sanctuary of Vader's, Bast Castle was an immense black fortress located near a beach on Vjun. His personal home, Vader often retired to Bast when not on assignment for the Emperor. Very few sentients knew of its existence, and it was here in solitude that he studied the Dark Side and attempted to learn what he needed to heal his broken body, frequently utilizing his personal meditation chamber located at the top of the bastion. When not delving into the Dark Side, the Dark Lord spent what time he had perfecting his lightsaber skills, using several variants of training droids to challenge himself. The castle also contained a droid workshop and private hangar where Vader would use his mechanical skills to privately work on his TIE Advanced X1 and to repair his sparring droids. Aside from the Dark Lord himself, the castle was occupied by a garrison of Stormtroopers who both stationed within the castle and the surrounding outposts, all loyal to him. These troopers were assigned to protect Bast Castle while Vader was away to fulfill his commission or on another assignment for the Emperor. The citadel was not the only redoubt at the disposal of the Dark Lord, with a public palace awaiting him at the Imperial Centre, known also as Coruscant, near the Emperor's own.
Vjun wasn't strong with the Dark Side, but it was lifeless. It's acidic droplets could be venomous, but it was the personal home of Vader. After the fall of the Sith Empire, Vjun was one of the refuges for the Sith.
It was for this reason that the Sith Lord partially had been concerned about Leia. The Sith once did use the planet as a fortress, and the echoes of the past could potentially drive the Princess into madness. While another Sith would take advantage of any potential weakness, he knew that causing Leia to be driven into darkness could end up with her being nothing more than a Dark Jedi, lost to the realities of the galaxy.
It didn't helped with the amount of anger that she was already alluring.
From her perspective, the Empire was evil, and he was to be sent to justice. She had been seconds away from termination, and according to her, was prepared to die; but Vader knew she cherished her life. She wanted to fight for others as Skywalker and Padmé once did, to provide people with her form of freedom, and to make sure that the Rebellion they'd all built was successful in restoring the Republic.
Leia needed to understand that the Republic was disorganized, a mess that was desperate to fall. The Organas were living in delusions. As were their pathetic followers. It pleased Vader to no end to watch that broadcast of the Senate being dissolved. Those band of fools bickering never ceased to annoyed Vader. It was a mutual trait between himself and Skywalker.
She hated the Empire and all that it stood for. This hatred could be used against her, however. It would be so simple to pray upon that, but her fall must be willing and to her knowledge.
The fortress here was far better than Mustafar, which stunk of the darkness to the point where Obi-Wan Kenobi, the perfect traditionalist Jedi, almost fell in his battle with Skywalker. Their battle still rang in the air, Skywalker's anger and rage against Kenobi's wall of light.
The Sith walked inside of the quarters to find Leia gripping her head, as if shaking off some form of drowsiness.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked coldly. "I can feel the whispers. They are so intense. They won't stop."
"Vjun's the fortress where we can act against the Emperor. Nothing else." Vader responded simply, all too casual.
Her irises locked onto him. "Why don't you torture me and get it done with already?"
"Because you're my daughter."
"Is that your way of saying you love me?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"And what exactly do you plan to do while I am under your custody, my Lord?" She spat out.
"Formulating ideals of support," the Dark Lord replied, calm but terse. "Some semblances of order must exists in the galaxy. Strategically speaking, after I have disposed of Tarkin and saved Alderaan from destruction, I will have secured a portion of allies due to that alone."
"Always planning, are you?" She spat.
He just stared down at her.
Vader didn't leave the room, nor did Leia pressed further. For a long moment, father and daughter stared at one another before he reached down and gripped his lightsaber. Leia stood up, confused by what he was doing, but prepared to take on her death with her stomach straight in defiance-another trait carried over from her parents.
"Guess you changed your mind?" She sniped.
"This lightsaber once belonged to Ahsoka Tano," he stated, squashing a pang of sadness for Skywalker's former apprentice as he pressed the lightsaber hilt against her.
"I'm no Jedi," she responded.
"You are the last hope, my daughter," Vader replied. "Do you really want the Emperor to continue leading his Empire?"
"I could ask the same about you."
He countered smartly. "So, you expect to defeat both of us without training? Talent without training is meaningless."
With Vader's careful instructions, not wanting the girl to kill herself, she activated the lightsaber. Out came a red color, all too similar to Vader's own. While she made a few practice swings, Vader sensed she couldn't deny how the blade felt in her hands.
She felt powerful.
Lashing out at his direction, hoping to catch him in the chest plate, Vader caught her lightsaber in the last moment with his own crimson one.
"Treacherous," the Sith observed with mild pride in his tone. "Give into your anger. It is the only way to defeat me."
She began pushing forward, swinging the lightsaber around.
The Dark Lord blocked all of her strikes as he felt the brilliant sparks of power flood through her system. She continued bashing the lightsaber against him. The Sith Lord didn't buckle, keeping her movements at bay with simple strokes and flourishes of his lightsaber.
The power increased to an inferno inside of her. It was so easy. Her drive to stop him was her destruction. Their lightsabers slammed against one another, coming again and again in a flourish of attacks.
He countered all of the sweeps, swings, and strikes. As they continued exchanging strikes, Vader's own far less intense than hers, he could see her orbs were turning a dark golden color. As her swings carried in momentum, she finally managed to have him take one step back.
"Remarkable," he commented.
She didn't respond, advancing yet again, moving for his stomach, being caught by his red lightsaber. The Dark Lord twisted her lightsaber out of her hands into the opposite direction.
"Your skills with a lightsaber are not exceptional," the Sith proclaimed.
Her eyes locked onto his, before the darkness retreated, and light poured in yet again. She swallowed and gripped her head. His daughter collapsed onto her knees, feeling vulnerable, weakened at the knees. The Dark Side raged around her, unmerciful, ready to claim her young, inexperienced soul, cleanse away her morality, and made her into a new Force adept.
"Too much power. Make it stop. Please make it stop." Her voice came not as strong and defiant as it normally was but pleading. Desperate.
The Dark Lord looked down at her for a moment. The darkness was struggling with his. Leia was no Force user, but her grips on mortality hadn't faded away. She was attempting to cling on, and her momentary lapse of anger was threatening to consume her soul. This was the chance he had been waiting for, the chance to finally twist her into the perfect legacy of his. A whimpering mess becoming lost to the power of the Dark Side.
'...do you really think Padmé would have wanted you around her children after that?' Organa's words rang in the back of his head.
No, as tempting as it was to convert her here and now, twisting her into an unwilling monster, an insane witch wanting more power without the proper control, would be an insult to his legacy. The allure of the Dark Side could be detrimental. Training her to harness it but resist the temptation would come in time.
He extinguished his lightsaber, knelt, and... collected her into his arms. Without saying anything, he pressed his digits against her forehead. Leia - and Vader - felt the whispers falling away, like a viper pulling back at the threat of a dragon while she was the hatchling. The dragon was protective, but ferocious. The hatchling was fearful and agonized.
As the viper raged, the dragon gripped it and crushed it. The hatchling buckled, her eyes widening as she registered what was about to happen. Her strength fell away, emotions becoming too strong for her to contain. Anger, guilt, shock, and so much more bubbled up inside of her. Her body went rigid, her head burying into his chest, whimpers and soft sobs trailing out of her eyes as the imprint was still evident.
Vader held her into place, right arm shot up to her shoulder, holding her in place as gloved hands traveled through her hair.
"You'll be safe, my daughter," he spoke soothingly.
Be her father first...
Arthur's note: Yes, it's Vjun, not Mustafar that Vader takes her to.
Leia's ex-boyfriend is a guy name Keir Demati from Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray. I only like the thought of her being with Han, but I can see her having brief relationships beforehand. It's about one of the small stuff that is DC based in this fic. 85% would be EU and nothing else.
Obviously, I love writing protective Vaderkin over Leia especially. It's like protective Padmé over Luke. Since fathers are overprotective of their daughters more than their sons and the same is true about mothers and sons, I think Vader (or Anakin) would feel more protective over Leia than Luke. Not favor her more, but just have more protective instincts.
May the Force be with you all always.